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Hello I have a ReadyNAS 102 running firmware 6.9.4 hotfix 1. I purchased an external drive bay and put a 3TB HGST drive in it to back up the RN102. The drive and bay are recognized by my PC over both USB and esata connections, and I partitioned and formatted the drive (FAT32).
Connecting the drive to my RN102 via either the USB2 port in the front, the USB 3 port in the back, or the esata port yeilds no response. Connecting various USB thumb drives works appropriately on all ports. I have rebooted the readyNAS with the drive attached and still no response.
Re: RN102 doesn't recognize external USB hard drive
The
The issue is now resolved. I will put the steps I used below for others who may have the same problem. To recap:
Plugging a new HGST 3 GB hard drive in a Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure into either the ESATA or front or rear USB ports yielded no recognition of the drive by my RN102. Rebooting the RN102 with the drive attached made no difference.
Plugging the same drive / enclosure combination into one of my computers yielded recognition and partitioning / formatting ability via either the USB or ESATA ports.
In the interim I upgraded my RN102 to firmware 6.9.5 (for original firmware version see OP)
I then installed the original HGST 1 TB SATA II drive into the Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure, which was recognized by my ReadyNAS.
I then installed the HGST 3 TB SATA III drive into a new Vantec NexStar 6G enclosure which led to the drive being recognized by the Win 8 PC, then the drive finally being recognized by the RN102 ESATA port. Since I always intended to interface the drive via ESATA, I have not tried USB, though I assume that would also work.
Discussion: The Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure is listed on the Vantec site as being SATA I/II compliant, but Amazon lists it as SATA III compliant as well. The drive is of course SATA III (also known as SATA 6Gb/sec). These are of course theoretical speeds. I asssumed since the drive worked in the enclosure on the PC the problem lay with either the ReadyNAS hardware or software. I now suspect but will not go to the trouble of proving that the problem lay with the drive / enclosure interface which for some reason didn't work with the ReadyNAS.
In short, if you're installing a backup drive for your ReadyNAS, you'll avoid problems by ensuring that the enclosure meets the same standards as your drive.
Re: RN102 doesn't recognize external USB hard drive
Hi @asdfsd, I would remove any partition from the drive using your pc. So, make it blank. Then connect it to the nas again and format it using the admin page.
FAT32 is a poor choice, as it can't handle large files. You should format the drive as NTFS. You can do that in the PC (with only one partition), or as @Retired_Member suggests, you can do it in the ReadyNAS. If you do it in the PC, make sure the drive only has one partition.
If the external drive bay is getting power from the USB port, then you should also power it independently (using a power adapter). It's possible that the RN102 isn't delivering enough power to the port.
FAT32 is a poor choice, as it can't handle large files. You should format the drive as NTFS. You can do that in the PC (with only one partition), or as @Retired_Member suggests, you can do it in the ReadyNAS. If you do it in the PC, make sure the drive only has one partition.
If the external drive bay is getting power from the USB port, then you should also power it independently (using a power adapter). It's possible that the RN102 isn't delivering enough power to the port.
Re: RN102 doesn't recognize external USB hard drive
The
The issue is now resolved. I will put the steps I used below for others who may have the same problem. To recap:
Plugging a new HGST 3 GB hard drive in a Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure into either the ESATA or front or rear USB ports yielded no recognition of the drive by my RN102. Rebooting the RN102 with the drive attached made no difference.
Plugging the same drive / enclosure combination into one of my computers yielded recognition and partitioning / formatting ability via either the USB or ESATA ports.
In the interim I upgraded my RN102 to firmware 6.9.5 (for original firmware version see OP)
I then installed the original HGST 1 TB SATA II drive into the Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure, which was recognized by my ReadyNAS.
I then installed the HGST 3 TB SATA III drive into a new Vantec NexStar 6G enclosure which led to the drive being recognized by the Win 8 PC, then the drive finally being recognized by the RN102 ESATA port. Since I always intended to interface the drive via ESATA, I have not tried USB, though I assume that would also work.
Discussion: The Vantec NexStar 3 enclosure is listed on the Vantec site as being SATA I/II compliant, but Amazon lists it as SATA III compliant as well. The drive is of course SATA III (also known as SATA 6Gb/sec). These are of course theoretical speeds. I asssumed since the drive worked in the enclosure on the PC the problem lay with either the ReadyNAS hardware or software. I now suspect but will not go to the trouble of proving that the problem lay with the drive / enclosure interface which for some reason didn't work with the ReadyNAS.
In short, if you're installing a backup drive for your ReadyNAS, you'll avoid problems by ensuring that the enclosure meets the same standards as your drive.
In short, if you're installing a backup drive for your ReadyNAS, you'll avoid problems by ensuring that the enclosure meets the same standards as your drive.
A SATA III drive is designed to work with SATA I and SATA II controllers. So while it is pretty clear that there is a compatibility issue with the enclosure, it is not about the SATA III spec.
